According to this poll by Reuters, the Japanese use only 33 percent of the vacation days they are given. This is pretty stupid. According to Jim Loehr, a “performance psychologist”, what distinguishes the best athletes from the rest is not how hard they work or play but how well they rest. The Japanese being a hardworking people is a myth. Now many Americans who have worked with the Japanese know that they are just very good at looking like they are working hard. Not taking much vacation days is a good example of keeping up this façade.

From The Boston Globe, Do colleges redline Asian-Americans?

In California, where passage of a 1996 referendum banned government institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, Asians make up about 40 percent of public university students, though they account for only 13 percent of residents.

I actually thought “discriminating on the basis of race” was illegal everywhere. Did Affirmative Action legalize racial discrimination for college entrance? I guess I’ve been too ignorant of this.

“Some Asian-American students feel that they lost something by going to school at a place where almost half of their classmates look like themselves – a campus like UCLA. The students said they didn’t feel as well prepared in intercultural skills for the real world.’’

This is the lamest argument I’ve ever heard. “Some Asian-American students”? Where did they dig up these Asian-American students? Sounds like they looked really hard for a legitimate-sounding reason to justify racial discrimination against Asian-Americans. By the time these kids are at the top of their careers, they would be dealing with a lot of Chinese business people, so they are getting a taste of “the real world” all right.

I really don’t see why schools should use race as a criteria for acceptance. I’m surprised that they are allowed to. How do they do it in the first place? Do you have to write down your race on your college application form? Or, do they try to figure out their race from looking at their last names? (If so, it’s a good thing my daughter took my wife’s last name.)

I don’t think there is any legitimate reason for setting the bar higher for Asian Americans. I think it’s racism, pure and simple. Even if 90% of Harvard becomes Asian, what’s wrong with it? What exactly are the issues? “The real world” experience? That is nonsense. If the real world experience is their concern, they should be accepting a lot of stupid people too because everyone needs to learn how to deal with dumb people as well as smart people. “The real world” is filled with both.

I suspect that the reason why these prestigious universities do not want their schools to turn Asian is because they are concerned about their own image. They do not want their schools to turn into a Chinese school. When you are an academic, you get paid not by money but by prestige and respect. The last thing they want is someone saying, “Oh, you teach at a Chinese school.”

They are probably fearing that the brand image of their school would be ruined, if the majority of their school were to become Asian, and many white students and professors would start leaving for more posh and prestigious white schools; perhaps even to schools in Europe.

I think this is all about brand management.

Sometimes the name alone can sell a product. I came across this bottled marinade at Key Food in my neighborhood. I thought the name “Soy Vay” was so clever that I had to get one. I have a lot of Jewish friends, so this particular combination had a special meaning for me. I wasn’t expecting it to be good, but it turned out to be a great sauce. I happened to be eating onion rings at home tonight, so I dipped one in this sauce; it was so good that I decided to pour it over all of the rings. It also tasted good on fried chickens. This sauce would probably work for pretty much anything that you would use soy sauce for. I’m going to try it tomorrow with dumplings. I would imagine that it would taste good even on salad if you add a little rice vinegar.

Speaking of clever names (and Jewish food); I was at Russ and Daughters the other day, and ordered a “Super Heebster“. The only difference between “super” and the regular Heebster was the Wasabi-Infused Flying Fish Roe, so I said to the guy behind the counter, “Wasabi isn’t so super heeb, is it?” He laughed and told me that this particular sandwich has generated more press for them than any other products they ever sold. By the way, this is a great sandwich, and I would highly recommend getting the “super” one. For me, wasabi is what really pushes this sandwich to a different level.

This video is funny and cringy at the same time. It’s not immediately obvious what she is talking about and what her confusion is. At first, you might think she is confusing Vietnam and Korea but what she is saying doesn’t make sense for Korea either.

I just got this email. I’m not sure what to make of this because I haven’t heard about the death of Tian Sheng, but it looked interesting. So, check it out and let me know what you know/think.

I wanted to bring your attention to huggingasians.com, a response to the recent Asian-Black tensions in and around the San Francisco/Oakland area. It began as response to the death of Tian Sheng Yu at the hands of two Black men. Now, it’s become ORIENT. I hope you can spread the word about this so we can get a conversation started.

All good wishes,
k~
kevinsimmonds.com

The Cove shown in Japan

Many nationalists in Japan are calling for the ban on the controversial documentary, “The Cove”. This is unfortunate. The ban would only legitimize and vindicate the filmmakers’ positions, and would probably sway more people to the side of the filmmakers.

My sense is that if everyone in Japan were to watch the film, the filmmakers would be proven wrong. They have repeatedly claimed that the Japanese media and government are deliberately covering up what is going on in Taiji, and that once they learn of the fact, everyone in Japan would be outraged. I would say they are wrong. In fact, they have already been proven wrong partially. Even though many people have not seen the film yet, now they are at least aware of the fact that dolphin hunting goes on in Taiji, but the reaction of the Japanese people have so far been largely against the film. There is no national outcry to stop the dolphin hunt, which is what the filmmakers were expecting.

The Hatoyama shirt

Is it hideous? Maybe. I really don’t care much about fashion, but given his track record of bad shirts, it probably is. To me, it’s so far out that it goes beyond “bad”; it turns into a political statement about personal taste.

What is interesting to me isn’t how bad the shirt is, but the fact that someone who would wear this could actually become a prime minister in Japan, the land known for, and often criticized for, conformity. How could this be? Did he just let it loose after he became the prime minister, or has he always been this way?

In the country where “the nail that sticks out is hammered down”, it’s hard to imagine why this particular nail was not hammered down. Does this reflect a fundamental shift in how personal expression is accepted in Japan?

You can buy this shirt from shirtsmyway.com. If it were cheaper, I would consider buying it. It would be so much fun to walk around wearing it in New York.

I’ve been trying to figure out who the original designer was. (The one on ShirtsMyWay.com is a replica.) Oddly, nobody seems to know the answer. Some people are speculating that it was by G. Inglese, an Italian company. But the owner of the company denied it.